El Grito de Dolores: The Cry for Freedom

Every country has a moment it points to as the spark: the one act that turned simmering resentment into an actual fight. In Mexico, that moment is “El Grito de Dolores,” the Cry of Dolores, the call to arms that set off the war for independence from Spanish colonial rule.

Where it started

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was a Roman Catholic parish priest in the town of Dolores (today known as Dolores Hidalgo, in the state of Guanajuato), and he was part of a small pro-independence group meeting in secret near the town. When word got out that the Spanish colonial government had discovered their plot, Hidalgo didn’t run or wait it out. He acted.

The night it happened

In the early hours of September 16, 1810, around 2:30 AM, Hidalgo rang his parish’s church bell to call his congregation together. What followed from the pulpit was an impassioned speech urging them to rise up against Spanish rule. It doesn’t sound like much on paper, a priest, a bell, a sermon, but it’s the moment historians point to as the real start of Mexico’s War of Independence, an eleven-year conflict that ran from 1810 to 1821.

What he actually said

Historians still argue over Hidalgo’s exact words that night, but there’s general agreement on the substance: an end to Spanish rule, racial equality, and land redistribution. Phrases commonly attributed to him include “Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe,” “Death to bad government,” and “Death to the Gachupines,” a derogatory term for Spaniards at the time. Other accounts have him shouting something closer to “Long live America! Long live Fernando VII! Long live religion and death to the gachupines!” Whatever the precise wording, the message landed with people who’d had enough of exploitation and forced labor, and who were more than ready to hear someone say it out loud.

What happened to Hidalgo

After that night, Hidalgo and his growing following marched across the country gathering support. It didn’t end well for him personally: after a defeat at the Battle of Calderón Bridge on January 17, 1811, he fled north, was captured on March 21, and executed by firing squad on July 30, 1811, at 58 years old. He never saw independence achieved, but he’s remembered today as the father of Mexican independence, and his name is stamped across streets, schools, and towns throughout the country.

How it’s marked today

El Grito de Dolores is now the opening act of Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations. On the night of September 15, around 11:00 PM, the President reenacts a version of Hidalgo’s cry from the balcony of the National Palace, ringing the very bell Hidalgo used in 1810, naming the heroes of the independence movement, and closing with three shouts of “¡Viva México!” Fireworks and the national anthem follow. In the final year of a presidential term, the ceremony sometimes moves to Dolores Hidalgo itself, back where it all started. Similar reenactments happen in town squares across the country and at Mexican embassies and consulates around the world, which is worth knowing if you’re curious how Mexico’s Independence Day plays out today.

A quick clarification

September is known across Mexico as “Mes Patrio,” the month of patriotism, and you’ll see flags and tricolor decorations everywhere you look. One thing worth getting straight if you’re new to Mexican history: Independence Day, marked by El Grito on September 16th, is a completely different holiday from Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), which actually commemorates a later military victory over French invaders at the Battle of Puebla. The two get mixed up constantly, especially outside Mexico, but they’re not related.